Common carrier vehicles have long been provided with some sort of stowage for passenger's personal luggage adjacent the passenger seats. The stowage in earlier forms consisted of a simple rack along the sides of the vehicle, as a railway car, while in later years, especially in aircraft, such stowage has been elaborated to one sort or other of closable bins. Such are not only more sightly and convenient, but also restrain the contents from being ejected onto the heads of the passengers in the event of rough air. Such bins have been in some cases stationary with doors, while in other configurations have been pivoted so that they may tilt downward for easier access.
Racks or bins along the outer wall of an airplane may be relatively low (with respect to the floor) without seriously impeding access to the seats. However, the advent of multi-aisle seating arrangements, in which three or four seats may be between the aisles, close to the centerline of the airplane body, imposes a requirement that the stowage bins be somewhat higher from the floor in order to make access to the center seats easy. On the other hand, the bins must be capable of being easily lowered to easy reach of passengers and attendants.